What you do today for yourself both mentally, physically and physiologically has a huge impact on your life tomorrow.
In the wise words of Zac Efron from his new series, Down to Earth he says; “We don’t like to think we are growing older even though we are constantly doing it”. When we are in our twenties and even thirties, we often feel a little too invincible to the real world and the happenings within us. We often neglect to remind ourselves of the importance of healthy aging which begins while we are young. Although our metabolisms are in it’s prime and we may not pick up weight as quickly or feel the effects of what we put into our body immediately, it is important to remember what we put into our body today will have an impact on it tomorrow.
This is a topic that resonates with me and has been on my mind for a while now, too often I see friends or people I know of neglecting their health for which I can assume 4 reasons; 1. They are unaware of the importance in healthy eating and living 2. They are somewhat too lazy to try and make an effort on doing so 3. They think just one more won’t hurt (200 times over) 4. They don’t really believe the impact it will have on their life in a few years time.
In just over three months, I will officially be a qualified Sport Scientist and with that comes all the amazing knowledge I’ve learned over the years about health and wellness, the importance of exercise, eating well and the disadvantages of doing the opposite. Although it would be nice, we youngsters unfortunately don’t have a free diet pass, a healthy diet is so crucial at every age and if there was one thing I want this post to do, it is to to urge you to be mindful of the food you put into your body and maybe think twice before you have to decide between a cheesy pizza or a chicken salad! Living a disease free life is what the goal should be and this is how its done..
Your future self will thank you for it
This is probably the most important point I want to get across to you. We all know the saying ‘prevention is better than cure’, If you are mindful of being healthy both mentally and physically now, you’ll be putting your body at less risk for health problems and diseases later on. Working out and eating healthy is more than just losing weight and ‘looking’ a certain way, if you are purposefully introducing healthier habits into your life your body will be able to function at it’s best and in turn, it will feel so much better in the long run.
Eat right to have more energy
I am sure somewhere along the road you have heard of the term ‘brain food’. The brain is an organ that uses energy and takes about 20% of the body’s calories in order to function, that’s why it is so essential to ensure you are fueling it with the necessary foods. It also needs good whole foods to remain healthy, just like the rest of our body.
Consuming foods that are full of nutrients, vitamins and minerals is vital in ensuring health whether it be brain health, gut health, heart health – it is all relevant and they are all interdependent, meaning they influence one another. Eating the right kinds of carbohydrates, fats and proteins will provide you with more energy throughout the day, you will be able to function for longer periods of time before feeling fatigued and your overall mental health will improve too.
You’ll feel better about yourself and attract healthier habits and people
It is no doubt that when you eat healthy, you feel healthy. When you are putting the right nutrients into your body and working out a bit more often than usual, you will begin to notice that your body will be able to perform efficiently and function a bit more adequately then usual.
Another part of your body that will thank you for it is your skin, remember what you put inside your body will show on the outside. If you are eating wholefoods and saying no to extra greasy and cheesy foods, your skin will start to relish. You will glow and in a few years time, your skin will reflect the healthy habits you began when you were younger.
Stretching
I don’t want to limit looking after yourself to just the foods you consume, simple things such as moisturising after the shower or doing 5 minutes of stretching every morning will all have a huge impact on you in the years to come.
Stretching has a wide variety of benefits for both the younger generations and older populations. Stretching when you are young can help prevent many injuries from occurring as you get older, and is also known to help prevent or minimise the risk of certain diseases such as arthritis. It helps maintain mobility and balance which are crucial the older you get, as it’ll prevent you from falling.
So as you can see, there are so many important reasons as to why you should look after yourself from a young age. Don’t do it for me, or your friends, you should do it for you because you love your body and you want to look after it so it can look after you the older you get.
In todays world, health is a term that is heavily controversial. There are so many debates as to what constitutes itself as ‘health’ and it is an ever changing phenomenon due to new discoveries, experiments, scientific evidence and own personal opinion.
Thats why I want to ask you, what is health to YOU? I know what it means to me, but that may not necessarily be the same as what it means to you. So, this is where we begin – it is so important to remember that there is no rule book to health, there is no road that takes us to the final destination. Health is, and will always be something that is acquired to ones own beliefs, morals, values and where they are at, in their life at the time. The meaning of health will constantly change as you go through the different phases of your life, when you are in your teenage years it may mean something completely different to you as to when you would be pregnant or fighting an illness.
The meaning of health should always be relevant to what you are wanting to achieve out of life. Whether that be to lose a few kgs or to prevent yourself from developing diseases as you get older and maintaining who you are now.
Health is NOT only based around fitness and intense activity. Health is so much more then that and thats what I want to talk about today; health but not in relation to exercise. I want to talk about health in relation to the inner workings of the body because you can assume fit and healthy on the outside but you have to understand that it all begins on the inside.
Gut health
I am almost sure you have heard the word ‘gut health’ been thrown around somewhere in this cyber world. You may have a good understanding of what it is or you may not, either way one of the main things you need to know is that it is important!
Good gut health impacts many things such as; gastrointestinal fitness, immune fitness, emotional health, cognitive functioning and your energy thus it is crucial in maintaining overall good body health. A healthy gut contains bacteria and immune cells that ward off many infectious diseases, help fight illness and even fungi. A healthy gut = a healthy digestive system. Good gut health helps to keep a balance between organs and hormones inside your body, which in turn will affect your health and well-being. So it is clear to say that your gut health influences your mental health and vice versa. When you have a balanced gut it is known as something called ‘equilibrium’, this is where the poor bacteria don’t have space to grow and and the good bacteria pave the way for them to do their jobs, ie. digest foods and ward off the evil.
The sad reality though, is that because we have easy access to fast food chains and that there is economic and pandemic stress it is easier and more common to find those living an unbalanced and sedentary life. Thus, in turn poor gut health is becoming more and more common in people.
Everything in your body is interdependent, meaning that everything influences each other one way or another. Thats why it is important to look after your inner-self just as much as your outer-self. So if your gut health is out of whack, so will how you feel, your well-being, mental health. You’ll feel lethargic and have digestive issues, maybe even symptoms of abdominal pain and bloating. These are all signs of an unhealthy gut. I would encourage you to be aware of how your body feels after eating food, pay attention to what you put into your body, notice if you are eating whole foods that are full of anti-oxidants, taking your daily vitamin C and omegas to look after your gut or are you eating greasy food that is cheap, mass produced and gives you temporary satisfaction which in turn contributes to the discomfort you may be experiencing. What you put into your body plays a major role in how your body functions which in turn will affect how you feel mentally and physically.
Mental health
I am an avid contender of mental health, as someone who has been into health and fitness for many years – I will always tell you that mental health should always become before physical health. Yes, there are known benefits of physical health improving your mental health but mental health is so much more then just dropping some squats, getting a jog in and calling it a day. Mental health is where you live, its the voice inside of your head constantly telling you, you can or can’t do it. Mental health is all about inner healing and constant self-development. It is wanting to work on you for the respect and love you have for yourself and your mind, to live a life where you never feel like you can’t achieve something.
Working on your mind is one of the most powerful and healthiest things you could do for yourself and I strongly encourage you to do it. There is no better feeling then waking up in the morning excited and inspired for the day to come, trust me because I have felt the opposite many of a time.
When I experienced one of the darker times of my life; I dwelled on everything, I felt sorry for myself, I threw many pity parties where the only person who showed up was myself. Until one day I realised that was just it, It is always going to be me at the end of the day, I am the only one who knows how I feel exactly, what I am going though intently and I am the only one in control of how I am going to change MY life for MYself. Other people are going to carry on with their lives, yes, if you are lucky you have incredible people supporting you and backing you but they are also living their own life and going through their own tribulations – they aren’t fixated on how you are feeling 110% of the time so YOU need to for yourself. After everything, you owe it to yourself to do such a thing. You just need to believe that you are worthy of so much more, because you are. And if you think that there is nothing ‘more’ then I can tell you my friend, you are wrong and thats where self-development comes in.
Self-development is a whole other world. It opens your mind to new perspectives and opinions, it helps you to see things in a light you never thought possible, it reminds you to focus on the things that are truly worth focusing on and in the midst of it all, you tend to see how you created mountains out of molehills. It truly is an incredible hobby to begin and its never too late, no matter how old or how young – you know how the saying goes, better late than never.
So I encourage you to focus on your health. Determine what it is exactly that health means to you and stick with it, make it your own. Work on that mindset, create amazing goals and get excited about life. It can only go up from here!
“You have to change your mind before you change the way you live and the way you move“
For those who know me, know I am a huge advocate for mental health. Yes, a lot of the content and posts that I do points in the direction of physical health and while that is just as important, it always coincides with mental health. I know many people who make the mistake of only working on their physical health, often neglecting their mental health and the importance of it. I always say that you can work on your physical health and fitness as much as you like, you can go to the gym 7 days a week and do cardio 5 times a week but if you aren’t addressing the demons you have going on in your mind, you’ll still be unhealthy.
When I talk about mental health, I am talking about the WHOLE spectrum. You don’t necessarily need to be suffering from depression or be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, even things such as every day stress affects your mental health. The longer you leave it, the more detrimental it can become. That’s why from high school, I have always made a conscious effort to ensure that not only am I constantly working to improve my physical health and fitness, but my mental health too.
Don’t get me wrong, the suggestions following below are not ways to cure mental health illnesses or the stresses you may experience from day to day. Regardless of the things you do, you will have days where you don’t feel so great and all you really want to do is lie in bed, eat ice cream and binge Spinning Out for the third time this year. And that is OK! But what I do wish to encourage you to do is be proactive, conscious and respectful towards yourself. Being sad and then purposefully watching something sad or listening to sad music will ultimately make you more sad. DUH. But don’t do that, don’t allow it to consume you and let you waste valuable time that you could be spending working on yourself. Our Egos are big ugly things that are typically the “Devil on your shoulder”. The Ego is something that is often spoken about in Psychology, I have recently been reading (and loving) Jen Sincero’s book “You are a badass” and she likes to refer to the Ego as the “Big Snooze” or “BS” (conveniently) because that is exactly what it is. She goes on further to state that the Ego is, “The shadow self, the false self or the self that makes us act like a weenie, it is the part of us that is driving the bus when we do things to sabotage our happiness” It is what stops you from going out and doing things your better self wants to do, the self that has no fear and enjoys learning and experiencing new things regardless of the terrifying outcome. It stops you from GROWTH! You just need to have the self-discipline to push past the Devil’s words, and create the happiness and the life you know you can have.
I may seem like I am rambling but stick with me, it is all valid. All too often I see friends and family members, friends of family members, family members of friends allowing the negatives of their lives to consume them. Heck, even I have done it before. We all do. This is because it is easier to wallow in self pity than it is to go out and make a change. There is something intoxicating about feeling low because you feel like it gives you a sort of “leeway” to not do anything. It is assumed that it’s a valid excuse because you’re sad, you don’t have to make your bed because you’re sad or you don’t have to eat healthy today because you’re too busy and stressed. It gives you a reason to not move forward in a positive direction because it’ll take lots of hard work and practice.
I think us, as humans enjoy finding excuses to not deal with the internal struggles we have going on because it is easier. But if there is one thing I have learned over the past few months is that finding distractions, people to fill the voids and unhealthy habits to waste time is only going to extend your healing process and pain for a lot longer. You are only damaging yourself more.
“Feeling the need to be busy all the time is a trauma response and a fear-based distraction from what you’d be forced to acknowledge and feel if you slowed down”
What I am ultimately trying to get at is that as difficult as it is to face what hides below the triggers, you need to do it in order to allow yourself to heal and to grow. You need to have the discipline, respect and love for yourself to be able to face the ugly head on to work on and create the beautiful for yourself. (You can see this lockdown has given me time to think, lol!)
With that said, use these next 2 weeks as an opportunity for growth. Work on the parts of you that you have been so busy ignoring, do things that you’ve always found excuses to not complete and do it for you. That is what I am doing and I am so much happier for it. Let the pity parties stop here, let the Big Snooze sleep & stay sleeping and let yourself receive the things you deserve to receive.
Here are 6 things I have recently added to my self-isolation routine to improve my mental health:
Reading self-development books
You are never going to learn to grow if you don’t open yourself to new ideas, opinions and perspectives. Reading motivational, self-development, self-help books all offer you a new perspective on how to live a healthier, happier and more fulfilled life (if you follow what they say). For the past week I have been reading Jen Sincero’s “You are a Badass” self-development/help book and I love it. It is easy to follow, witty and all round helpful. 10/10 recommend.
There are plenty of options online on what books to read. Decide where you are at in your life, what you want to work on and then narrow your options down to the books that relate and interest you currently.
Look after myself more (Do more things for me)
I am definitely one of those people to put other people’s needs and wants ahead of mine, it is one of the traits I value in myself – especially when it comes to people I care about because heck, they deserve it. But often that leaves me forgetting about my needs and my wants, so I have really been practicing looking after myself even in the slightest ways which in turn makes the biggest difference to how I feel. Examples of this would be doing a face mask every Sunday, lying in the sun and reading a book or listening to music and using a facial roller every day, twice a day (Gotta keep that skin looking youthful). The more you do these things, the quicker they will become habits and the sooner you’ll start to feel better.
Doing at least one active thing a day
Like I said at the beginning of this post, physical health and mental health coincide with one another. ESPECIALLY during lockdown where all we can pretty much do is sit on your butt and watch tv, it is important to move. Get the heart rate going, blood circulating and body groovin’. (Was hoping that would rhyme, poor attempt). Even if it’s something small. One of the major advantages of Social Media is the convenience, there are plenty of at home workout videos to follow on YouTube and Instagram. If working out isn’t your thing, trying some Yoga or Pilates. I just deeply encourage you to try and move about for even the smallest fraction of your day, I know it makes me feel good and productive and it is bound to do the same for you!
Social Media declutter
Sounds weird, sounds unnecessary but what you surround yourself with and the things you follow are the things your subconscious “manifests” for you. If you constantly follow negative pages or read sad quotes, chances are you aren’t going to ever really be happy because you’re always relating to the dimmer side of things. So I did a Social Media “decluttering”. Anything that was no longer serving me any positivity and inspiration I unfollowed, whether that be meme pages or quotes, people I knew or didn’t know – what’s the point? Get rid of it if you feel no sort of value coming from it. If you aren’t too keen on the unfollow bit which I admit, I was to a certain extent, the mute button is a great tool and one I take real advantage of and NOT sorry for it! You gotta be thinking about yourself when you do this, not how they might feel.
Meditate
This one is still a bit new to me. I still find it a bit strange learning how to empty my thoughts and just be in the now. But I have been doing this very casually every night for 5 minutes before I go to bed and I find it really calms me and my thoughts. Meditation is also really lovely for those who suffer from anxiety and stress. It allows you to not think of the future but to remain present, focus on your breathing, learn to relax and relieve you of any stresses you’ve been holding onto for the day. You don’t need to know how to do it off the bat, if you ask me I don’t really think there is a right or wrong way to do it. You just start off small, a few minutes every day and if you want to, you can expand from there.
“You spend your entire life in your head, make sure it’s a comfortable place”
If there is one other thing I can ask you to do, is check on your friends during this time, even the ones that seem the strongest. You know how the saying goes, ‘Everyone is fighting a battle we know nothing about’. During this lockdown, it is easy to over think and to over feel, knowing that there is someone there for you can go a long way. Let’s try make this world a little softer for those who need it, including ourselves.
A three months into 2020 and this year is not what I had imagined it to be. AT ALL and I am sure some of you reading this are already nodding along with me. I love the beginning of new things, I love Mondays and I love new years – it is an opportunity to start fresh, a second chance of doing things differently, I guess you could call it a do-over. Opportunities to do new things, old things differently, form healthier habits and finally do things you have wanted to do for years now.
But here’s the thing, nobody talks about the pressure that comes with this “motivation” for a new opportunity to create healthier habits, or how to self develop and work on the parts of you that need to grow. The assumption that because we have been given this opportunity to spend quality time with ourselves and our family, it is almost mandatory to get on this health train both mentally and physically. I am here to tell you that if you feel no different to what you did before this outbreak occurred, if you still have no energy to wake up early or still struggle to drink water and get 8 hours of sleep – that is okay. It is okay and don’t allow society to make you believe differently.
You don’t have to be or feel ready nor do you have to pretend you are doing these things to make a big change. If you are struggling to find motivation to live up to society’s norm of a new and improved version of you, then that’s okay. You just have to keep going, it will come and when it does, it will feel great. In the meantime, just be kind to yourself. Allow yourself to feel these things and make small changes each day that you know will make you feel better. Even if it is just making your bed or doing that face mask you’ve been meaning to do for the past four weeks. You don’t need to worry about anyone else.
I created this post with the purpose of helping lift some of the weight off your shoulders that you have been carrying around so heavily since the beginning of this pandemic. I want you to know that your self-isolation routine does not have to match your favourite influencers or that you don’t have to always do jump squats in order to keep fit. There are many other ways to be productive, find what works for YOU. Things will soon fall into place, just remember you aren’t alone. We are all in this together, quite literally. Lets lean on one another during these difficult times and encourage improvement from all sides of the spectrums.
Here are 4 small steps on how to get out of a self-quarantine slump;
1.Read a book
There are a lot of negative things in the media at the moment and I want to try and encourage you to not get sucked into the worm-hole of politics, conspiracy theories and COVID-19 updates – yes its real, yes it is important to know what is going on but don’t let it consume you. Reading is one of the most therapeutic ways to switch off from the world a little. Whether it be self-help, self-development, fiction, non-fiction or an autobiography, anything that helps you escape from the realities and go into your own world of creation – read that.
I recently read “The girl on the Cliff” by Lucinda Riley and it was amazing, it took me a week to finish and now I am reading David Attenborough’s “Adventures of a young naturalist” and I am loving it. It is so cute and witty! If you are looking for a bomb self-development book, I recently purchased Jen Sincero’s book, “You are a badass” and I bloody love it! 10/10 recommend and I haven’t even finished it yet!
2. Find a hobby
I read something the other day that mentioned how this generation doesn’t know how to have hobbies anymore and I couldn’t agree more. Everything is done so that some sort of benefit can come from it, rather than just doing it for the pure enjoyment of the activity. I deeply encourage you to find something you enjoy doing and try and do it at least once a week. It could be journaling, going for walks in the forest or along the beach or taking up rock climbing.
A good opportunity that has come from self-isolation is that we have been given a lot of time to figure out what we like and what we don’t like, in our OWN time at our own pace. So hopefully by the end of this period you would have found a new love for something!
There is no right or wrong, these points are all about giving you ideas in order to help make you feel happier both mentally and physically during this difficult time.
3. Eat whole foods
This one may seem a bit strange but feeding yourself artificial sugars, preservatives and constantly having take out will in no way make you feel better. Maybe in the moment it’ll taste good but afterwards you won’t feel nearly as good as what it tasted and chances are you’ll make yourself feel guilty for eating badly again and the whole cycle will repeat itself.
I am a true believer in prevention is better than cure, so instead of trying to talk yourself out of feeling guilty for having take out the third day in a row, rather be proactive and prepare your meals on a Sunday. That way they are ready for you when you are starving (and once you have prepared your meals, it is easier to get than ordering fast food) and plus, it is also cheaper and healthier which both sound like a win to me! It is also one of the more natural ways of ensuring you are getting all the necessary nutrients and vitamins your body needs to help yourself and your immune system healthy!
4. Make self-attainable goals with no expiry date
Firstly, you don’t have to create goals if you feel like you don’t want to. But, if it is something you do want to pursue during this very confusing and strange time then make sure they are for the right reasons. Set yourself goals that are easily attainable for you and your lifestyle, not anyone else’s. It is also important to remember that you don’t have to share your resolutions with strangers on the internet if you don’t want to. This time round, do things for you.
I find it a lot easier to stick to my goals when I have a friend who has similar one’s to me, we keep each other in check and accountable when it gets a bit difficult to always follow through. So if you don’t want to share your goals, find a friend you can trust and share it with them. Maybe they are wanting to achieve similar things to you.
Always remember that you don’t have to prove anything to anyone else but yourself. So don’t put so much pressure on yourself regarding the norms society has so quickly created and just go at your own pace. You’re doing a good job!
“Every day you re-invent yourself. You’re always in motion. But you decide every day: Forwards or backwards?”
and Just like that it is the end of the decade and the start of a new one! HAPPY NEW YEAR!
What a ride 2019 was, full of ups and downs. It was by far the most challenging year of my university career yet and definitely a year where I grew and learned so much about who I am, who I want to be and where I want to go from here.
I know what you may be thinking, “Jean, it’s literally a month and a half into the new year – you’re a bit late” and while that may be true, I also don’t think there is ever a time limit for setting yourself goals. Regardless of where you are in the year! If you feel it within you, go for it.
I have thought long and hard about my resolutions for this year. Usually I go into the new year with a clear mindset of what I want to achieve and how I plan on doing so, however this year it was a bit more different for some reason. I had not thought about it until mid January. I took some time to detox from the copious amounts of food I’ve eaten and to assess what my plan is for 2020 and I came up with some very distinct and clear resolutions that I am sure many of you will relate to as well.
1. Self-acceptance
This one is an important one for me. Over the past few months I have come to realise that I am too much of a critic of myself. Everything that I do or say, wear or eat, I am constantly criticizing myself and trying to find better ways to do what I am doing or wearing. Habits of a perfectionist unfortunately!
I know being hard on yourself is good, it means you know you are capable and worthy of more but when it starts to control every single tiny action you do – I think it is time to cut yourself some slack and reevaluate!
Hence why I want that to change this year, give myself a break, learn to love who I am whether that is a me who is 3 kgs heavier than usual or a me that ate well for a full week – it is time to be more self-accepting & I think the new decade is a great way to start that habit.
2. Not care about what other people think
I go through these phases where I don’t care about what other people thought about me, let them think what they want to think and then I have these phases where I care more than what I should and currently I am at the latter.
I care too much about other people and their feelings to not worry about whether I may be posting something that will offend them or irritate them, and so for the past few years I have tried my very best to not do that.
There have been so many things I have wanted to do with my blog and instagram page – things I know some people will love and some people will hate. But when I was thinking about it yesterday, I realised how silly it is that I am stopping myself from doing things I have thought about doing for years because of other people and yes, that comes along with self acceptance and confidence too, but if you are someone who cares a little too hard then you’ll understand!
So my second resolution for 2020 (Alexa cue doin’ me by Mikey Mike) is to not wonder what other people are thinking and doing things for me!
3. Be more consistent with my blog and social media posts
During the holidays it is easy for me to be consistent and make content I love, because I have the time. What I struggle with is when I don’t have the time my social medias and blog kind of take the backseat. In fact i’m sure I even said something similar to this in my resolutions post for 2019 so this one i’m carrying over! It is something that definitely needs to be worked on.
So I am keeping myself accountable for two blog posts a month and during the holidays 3, something small but possible and if I find myself having the time to be able to do more than I can do that too.
4. Make it into honours 2021!
This one is probably my biggest resolution yet. I am extremely lucky to be studying a degree I love and I am passionate about. I often hear stories where people are studying because they have to not because they want to so I feel very grateful that I found my niche so quickly but that doesn’t mean it’s not challenging!
This is my last year for my degree and then it is into honours for another year and I would be lying to you if I said that I haven’t been studying my butt off just to not get in. SO.. I am putting it into the universe now already, honours 2021 will be mine with much hard work and dedication, I know it is possible.
5. Become the best version of myself YET!
2019 was more challenging mentally and my physical health suffered more than what I would have liked but it is okay because that’s last decades issue, not this one!! 2020 is all about positivity and self love. I want to become a better me both mentally and physically while thriving in all the things I love.
That means exercising, drinking water, eating right, enjoying myself, giving myself breaks, spending time with people who make me feel whole and making this year the best one yet!!
I am trying to make my resolutions a lot more measurable this year, something that is often overlooked. I believe that someone is most likely to achieve more if their goals are realistic and less daunting! But, with that said. Don’t forget to dream big too!
My wish for you this year is that it brings you all the happiness, success and adventure you are seeking. It is a good year to have a good year so let’s make it happen!
Friday the 13th of December seemed like the perfect day to get behind the wheel of some beautiful cars and learn a thing or two about road safety!
Many other influencers and bloggers (including myself) were given the opportunity to partake in their Driving Skills for Life programme which included an array of different activities and talks from the people who know what they’re doing – as much fun as the day was, it was an eye opening experience on how necessary it is to help bring awareness to road safety especially during the festive season!
With that said, LET’S GET STARTED!
To start the day we were welcomed by the very enthusiastic Ford team, there was fresh coffee available thanks to Barmotion and BlendaVenda showed us how we could blend our own smoothie while cycling (Crazy right!?) needless to say, that made all of us giggle and was very entertaining to watch. Never have I seen people blend their smoothies so intently! OH! And let me not forget the snazzy Ford cap we were given to protect us from getting blinded from the event being too lit (ok, I admit that was cringe but I couldn’t help myself)
Once everyone had fuelled themselves with some good coffee and had some fun with the BlendaVenda team, we got down to business. We were formally welcomed and given a presentation from a very interesting and well knowledgeable representative of Master Drive SA. The event was essentially aimed to highlight road safety during the silly season and because I was one of the lucky ones to experience the day in the front seat, I feel it is also my responsibility to bring awareness to the issues that lie at hand.
Did you know that the Driving Skills for Life Programme hosted by ford is not only free but is also an international programme? These people clearly mean business!
There were so many important points I took away from that presentation, so many interesting facts and some that kind of had me going “you can’t be serious!?” like how eating your fries in your car is actually illegal according to the law. I know right, that made everyone in the room give out a little laugh.
Here are some pointers that caught my attention;
Seatbelts
It’s common knowledge for the driver and the passenger to wear their seat belts but if your passengers don’t wear their seatbelts is it their responsibility or theirs if they don’t wear their seatbelt? As the driver it’s yours.
Your car, your responsibility. The lives of those in your car are now in your hands and as scary as that sounds, it is the truth. Those people are trusting you to get them safely to the next destination so it is your duty to ensure that they are strapped in.
Many people don’t wear their seatbelts at the back of the car because they think they’re protected by the front seats but that’s not true. Did you know that when an individual gets into an accident their body mass and their bone becomes 30x more than what it normally is. That means 30x more weight and pressure being added onto whoever is in front of you or even onto the windshield. So next time you have passengers, front and back – make sure they have their seatbelts on before setting off to wherever it is you are heading to!
Want to know how to save fuel?
Let’s start off with this fun fact: Did you know that every 3 minutes you spend idling your car it is known to be the equivalent to driving 1km at 50km/h. WHAT!? You might say but it’s true! That’s why if you are expecting to stop and idle for more than 20 seconds whether it be during traffic or at a red robot, it’s better to switch off a warm engine. (And before those tech junkies come at me, no switching your car on and off does not damage the starter switch or decrease it’s life; it’s there for a reason. Technology is amazing)
We were also taught to save fuel, you need to change gears between 1500-2500 rpm (you can thank me later when your road trip bill is less than usual) as well as keeping your car as light as possible, the heavier it is the more fuel used.
They did a study where the Ford members drove from the ford dealership in JHB to a set destination for a week driving at the speed limit and maintaining the correct distance (which is 6 seconds behind the car when you have poor visibility and 3 seconds behind a car when you have clear visibility) and you know what, they only lost 1 minute and 12 secs.
Now I want to ask you, do you think it’s worth risking your lives and the lives of others on the road to get to your destination a minute or so earlier? I think not. Drive safely and responsibly!
Mirrors
This may seem like a boring one but it’s always the boring points that are most important.
First of all, if you get into your car and you cannot see the road out of your review or side mirrors, you need to fix that, like yesterday already!
It is important to always check your mirrors and make sure they are positioned so you have the best view of the road and cars behind you, there is a reason they are there people! Use them!
We were taught a little trick: For your review mirror, you should be able to see the top of your left ear and with the side mirrors you should be able to see the handle of your back doors and if you are in a 3 door car, then just the sides of your car.
Texting and Driving
Did you know more collisions are happeninnot because of drinking and driving but because of texting and driving?
All too often I see people on Social Media filming themselves driving or of the beautiful sunset that they’re driving past and honestly, there is nothing that is so important that you should feel the need to take your attention off the road to take a cute video of the sunset and if you feel a bit offended reading that, you are part of the issue! It’s not worth risking your life and the lives of those around you.
Ignorance is NOT bliss and Knowledge is Power.
After the very impressive and interesting presentation hosted by Derek, we moved onto the 5 activities that Ford had set up for us which i’m not going to lie, some of them made me nervous but they pushed me out of my comfort zone and forced me to learn and do things I wouldn’t normally do!
Sleep Suit Activity
This was the first activity I participated in that took place inside.
Initially I had no idea what to expect with this activity. I thought we were going to get put into some suit and I would fall asleep immediately but logically, that would teach us nothing so I had a bit of a ‘Jeanna moment’.
First off, each individual got the chance to try on the weighted suit and weights attached to one of their arms and the opposite leg to that, then the individual would walk out a mapped out area responding to the trainer who had a Stop or Go sign to tell them when to move. Then they repeated the activity using some goggles to distract them that would allow them to see and then all of a sudden not see. I found it really interesting how when the goggles blacked out, some individuals continued walking (guilty) which is the equivalent to someone continuing to drive once they have fallen asleep!
The objective of this activity was to highlight the importance of getting enough sleep before heading out on a long trip, or even just in general. Many people fall asleep behind the wheel due to lack of rest and they may just be travelling short distances. On that note, If you are planning to go away with some friends or family, it is important to take breaks often, have a rotation system of drivers so everyone gets a sufficient amount of rest and if you feel like you need to sleep and you are behind the wheel, pull over and sleep!
Reaction Board – Drunk / Drug Driving Activity
This one was probably one of my most favorite of the day. It was so simple, yet so effective and surprised almost everyone!
How it worked: Each individual would engage in a thirty second attempt to hit a lit button that would randomly light up, the goal is to hit as many lit buttons as possible first time round and see how close you could get to it the second time but the second time there was a twist!
The second time round individuals did the same thing but wearing goggles that simulate being drunk or under the influence of some sort by blurring your vision intensely! When participants were wearing these ‘drunk goggles’ their scores were typically half (or less) of what they had scored previously in the first round. Quite often the individuals would be confident in knowing where their buttons were but then when moving in the direction toward the button, they would completely miss it. Showing us how driving under the influence impairs one’s ability to react to situations adequately!
In the first round I scored 33 and the second round I scored a WHOPPING 8. So moral of the story, don’t drink and drive! Your reaction time isn’t nearly as good as you think it is.
SkidPan Activity
I’ll be honest with you, I was very distracted by the beauty of the Mustang that I initially didn’t hear what we had to do but once I was snapped back out of dreamland we got onto our next activity.
How it worked: There were two Ford Vehicles, a Ford Mustang (drool) and a Ford Kuga ST (also super gorgeous in your soccer mom car kind of way) which raced against each other in what is the slowest race you’ll ever watch, through a course of cones set out for each car. Each driver was asked a question before ‘racing’ off and at the end of the course had to park in either parking A or parking B depending on their answer to the question.
The objective of this activity was to reinforce the safety tips we were taught during the presentation at the beginning of the day while having the pressure of racing to the correct answer and trying to focus on what you are doing so you don’t crash into any of the cones. This was so show how distractions could have an affect on your driving abilities!
Gravel Braking Activity
Honestly, I was most nervous to do this one out of all the activities but I mean to the point where I put it off and put it off until I was the last one and had no choice but to go but once I did it, I wanted to do it again! Strange how the mind works isn’t it?
How it worked: A series of barricades were set up to portray that of a ‘road’ and at the end of the barricading, cones were set up to illustrate that of a ‘bus’ which was in front of us. The individuals had two different attempts to do this. Driving the effortless Ford Everest, the first time we drove as fast as possible towards the bus (aka the cones) and when the instructor signalled, we had to slam on the brakes and swerve the wheel to the right to avoid hitting the ‘bus’. Once we passed it, straightened out the wheel and continued on driving, going back to the start. The second attempt was a bit more daunting, we did the same thing as the first but this time we weren’t allowed to touch the brakes, demonstrating the Ford Everest’s ESC (Electronic Stability Control)
The objective of this activity was to highlight was to teach us how to handle a vehicle on loose ground during an emergency maneuver.
4 X 4 Off road activity
As our last activity, we had the opportunity to experience the driving capabilities of the Ford Raptor by maneuvering over hills, holes in the ground and driving almost on the side. This is definitely not something I was expecting to enjoy!
As you can tell, we all had an incredible day out with the Ford team – learning and driving some beautiful cars. As our day was coming to a close, we arrived back to be treated to some delicious food supplied by Rocky’s BBQ and the ever so delicious gelato thanks to Barmotion as dessert.
I hope this post has opened your eyes about road safety and the importance of being aware of your surroundings while driving as much as it did for me! Please share with your family and friends, you could save someone’s life.
Very big thank you to Ford and their members for showcasing such an important yet fun day, bringing awareness to road safety.
Ford hosts their Driving Skills for Life Programme all over the country, so if you are interested in learning more, check out their website and get in contact with them. I would 10/10 recommend!
Welcome to Jeanna Kenchington Blog! Bringing you the latest health, wellness and fitness tips and tricks to keep you inspired and in the loop.
My goal is to make living a healthy and active lifestyle easy and maintainable for you, encourage you to practice having a healthy relationship with exercise and food as well as finding a balance in YOUR life that makes you feel free!